Military recall biggest stumbling block to veteran jobs

ATLANTA -- With more than 44,000 Georgia veterans out of work, 11Alive is committed, along with our colleagues at NBC to "Hire Our Heroes."

Many of them will be at a special job fair this Thursday at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta to help get them back into the full-time civilian workplace.

But for returning active duty military troops, finding a job has lots of road blocks.

While chains like Starbucks are adding thousands of jobs, candidates with specialties could find the road to a full-time job a tough one to travel.

And that's just what happened to Koblavi Mensah, an Army Reserve Sargent, based in Atlanta.

He has been to Iraq twice, has a college degree in biomedical engineering, but cannot find a job.

"Employers will call me and they say your resume looks good, but we chose somebody else to hire instead of you. I believe it's the case because they think that I will be gone in two or three months we hire him. Most of them do not want to take that chance," Mensah said.

Ted Daywalt, CEO of VetJob.com sees an active duty recall as the biggest roadblock to a civilian full time job.

"They've been called up so many times employers are afraid to hire them in case they get taken away again for 12-24 months," Daywalt said.

But many of the country's top employers are ignoring that.

Atlanta based Home Depot is adding 55,000 vet jobs; Aarons is hiring 5,000; Wal-Mart has committed to 100,000 veterans; and Starbucks is adding 10,000.

With a wife and two daughters, Sgt. Mensah is not giving up.

"So far there are no jobs. I am still looking."

Like thousands of his military colleagues, he will go to job fairs and surf the internet for every opportunity.